The Ties That Bind (Version 2)
by Mamph
Summary: This is a rewritten version of a story I started back in 2006. It is a story about not knowing the strengths you have inside until they are tested by the unknown.
1. Chapter 1

Reread and rewritten

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 **The Ties That Bind.**

 **Chapter 1.**

"Yeah! Go Dragoon!"

Tyson yelled encouragingly as his blade slammed bodily into Draciel.

"No. Come on Draciel. You can do it!"

However Draciel wasn't quite good enough this time as his blade flew out of the stadium spinning lazily to a standstill at his feet.

Tyson dramatically punched the air, hopping from foot to foot, celebrating his victory

"He He! I won again Max."

Max closed his eyes, his face showing the obvious, and all too familiar, expression of disappointment. He bent down to retrieve Draciel, his fist closing around the still warm Beyblade. He brought the blade up to his chest momentarily before locking it into his launcher, his eyes blazing with determination.

"Let's go again!"

"Yeah!" Hollered Tyson, his victory grin spreading impossibly wide as he fixed Dragoon to his own launcher.

"You can do it this time Max," cheered Ray heartily from the sidelines.

Kai, Daichi, Kenny and Ray were all watching with various levels of enthusiasm; Kai studying the battle readying himself to point out all the mistakes; Kenny studying the Blades themselves for any tweaks or improvements he could make to them; Daichi jumping up and down impatiently, wanting to be battling himself and only holding himself back out of fear of the imposing figures of Kai and Ray standing either side of him, and finally Ray watching calmly, waiting to throw in helpful comments and encouragement, the very epitome of a supportive and unfathomably patient teacher.

As night began to draw in and the streetlights began flickering into life, the Bladers wound down, eventually splitting off to head to their respective homes. The group was soon down to its last two.

"Same time tomorrow Kai?"

"Sure. See you."

Ray walked off towards the road as Kai set off alongside the river, preferring the quiet of nature to the busy streets of the town and the people he would encounter there. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked at a steady pace along the river's edge passing empty benches and the remnants of their former occupants. Along the route Kai would walk beneath several bridges, the growing darkness around him enveloping him completely as he passed beneath each of them.

It was at the second bridge that it happened. Under the bridge there was always piles of random rubbish that people dumped there instead of taking it to the nearest official dump. Kai normally just stepped carefully around the mounds, taking very little notice of what they consisted of, however, on this occasion he paused. He scanned the piles searching for whatever had alerted his senses. At first nothing appeared to be any different to what it usually was when he came by this way, but then he saw movement in the pile to his right. This wasn't unusual in itself, as rats and other small animals were frequent visitors to the dumping ground but this movement was different. Kai peered into the darkness attempting to work out what had peaked his interest. His ears strained against the silence of the ever-darkening night and could just about make out a kind of quiet sobbing noise. Now if Kai were to see somebody sobbing openly in pubic he would most likely avert his eyes and continue on his way but this situation seemed so strange and the sobbing was so quiet yet also so intensely desperate that he felt an urge to investigate further.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

The rubbish suddenly jolted as if something underneath them had jumped in a confined space.  
"Do you need help?" Kai asked tentatively knowing that, as the sound had abruptly stopped, that whatever had been making it must be aware of his presence. Again, there was no response to his question. The pile of rubbish remained stubbornly still and silent. Confused and more than a little curious, he stepped closer to the pile and tugged at a piece of wet cardboard near the approximate location of the sounds he had heard. He tossed the cardboard behind him and leaned forwards to grab a second larger piece as, suddenly, Kai was thrown backwards by a blur of dirt and rags hitting him solidly in the chest. He just about managed to stay on his feet as he stumbled backwards clutching his chest and gasping for breath. As he gathered himself Kai looked across just in time to see a small figure running off back in the direction Kai had been walking. Through his watery eyes Kai couldn't make out much about the person, other than that they were small, probably quite young and possibly female judging by the sobbing he had heard.

Kai coughed and straightened up as he got back his breath. Looking back at where the young girl had come from he could see what appeared to be a little nest made of paper and cardboard. The girl looked to have been living there. He turned to see if she was still in sight but she was long gone. Kai absently rubbed his chest where he'd just been struck by this small curiosity and contemplated the events that had just occurred. He looked once again to the direction the girl had fled in and turned to continue home…

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That's it for chapter 1.  
Hope you liked it.  
If you did, just let me know by leaving a review.  
Thanks in advance!  
Mamph.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok. Here's chapter 2. Hope you like it!

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 **The Ties That Bind.**

 **Chapter 2.**

Maya liked Dusk. It was the best time of day. Most people were absorbed in their own lives, barely noticing the others around them; They were heading home from work, from clubs, some were heading out for the evening chatting animatedly to their friends as they walked. There was always the odd person who was just out to enjoy the evening air or to watch the sunset, but these people were often deep in thought, contemplating life's problems. There was one of these such people now sat on the bench before Maya. There was a kind of sadness to the man. He wasn't young, maybe sixty or seventy years old. His hands were folded neatly in his lap, his eyes staring at a fixed point in space. Next to the man was a half-eaten sandwich partially wrapped in clingfilm and a now stone-cold cup of tea poured from a green plastic flask. It was these two items that drew Maya's attention. She sat, patiently waiting in the bushes behind the bench. She could feel her empty stomach churning at the possibility of food. Her jaws were mechanically moving up and down in anticipation of the pretty stale looking sandwich. The old man had been sat now for what Maya guessed to be around two hours. She hoped desperately that he would head off soon and leave that delicious food there. Even if he threw it in the nearby bin that would be fine. Taking it with him would mean that she had wasted all that time on nothing and she would likely go hungry for yet another night. Maya had been alone for as long as she could remember. The streets were her home. Scavenging strangers' leftovers was the norm. She remembered there being other people around when she was very small but she wasn't sure what had happened to them. She knew they weren't parents; she didn't know what had happened to them, they were just other kids, older than her, that looked after the littler kids. However, at some point, Maya had found herself alone and now was left to scavenge what she could to survive and live in cardboard boxes.

The old man suddenly moved and Maya tensed hopefully. His head drooped and he uttered an audible sigh. He looked dolefully out across the river, blinked and heaved himself stiffly up into a standing position. He turned and picked up his flask emptying the cup out onto the floor and screwing it back on top of the flask. He put it into his pocket and picked up the sandwich. He stared and the curling edges of the bread mournfully and tossed it casually into the nearby bin. With bowed head and hands stuffed into pockets he slowly shuffled away down the footpath. Maya waited, every muscle tensed, waiting for the man to get far enough away. The agony of waiting seemed to be eternal as the figure disappeared into the distance. Soon the rumbling of Maya's stomach became too much for her and she darted out of the bushes towards the bin. Plunging her hand into the assorted filth, she rummaged around until her fingers closed around the sandwich. She pulled it out and hungrily stuffed it into her mouth. Past experience told her that she should eat this slowly and even try to make it stretch into more than one meal, however this was the first food she had managed to get in nearly three days and, now that it was in her grasp, she couldn't help herself.

Suddenly, Maya jumped as something hit the floor just a few short feet in front of her. She stared at the area where she'd seen and heard the movement, puzzled. Seconds later another object hit the floor on her other side. Moments later she heard laughing and jeering from behind her. She turned and looked up to see a group of boys on the bridge. There was maybe five or six of them pointing down at Maya, laughing loudly at her. They had seen her mad dash to the bin and her shabby attire and had begun throwing stones around her. She ducked and dropped her dinner as one such projectile skimmed across her head. Dismayed, she dropped to the floor and gathered up the parts of the sandwich as it had fallen apart on impact with the ground. The laughter above her got louder as she scrabbled around on the floor. Maya felt her face heat up and redden as she straightened up at unfortunately the wrong moment. She suddenly felt intense pain as a stone bounced off her temple. She stumbled, once again dropping the sandwich. She felt the bench bump up against the back of her legs and sat down heavily upon it. Up on the bridge the laughter stopped abruptly. The one young boy whose stone had connected still had his arm in the air from its release. The look on his face had turned to horror as he looked down upon the scene. He could see the girl sat on the bench. Her hand was holding her head. He could see trickles of blood squeezing out between her fingers. He hadn't meant to hit her. They were just having a bit of fun. The boys around him were nervously nudging each other and whispering. One of them grabbed his shoulder and he was brought quickly back to his situation.

"Come on. We need to get out of here."

He looked at his friends and, needing no further encouragement yet still with guilt gnawing at his insides, raced off down the road away from the scene.

Down below, Maya's head was spinning, her vision blurred and she could feel the hot wetness trickling down her face. She brought her hand down from the wound and looked at it. The redness seeming strangely bright in the darkening evening. The brightness appeared to grow and grow until it disappeared completely, being replaced by utter blackness.

"Come on Daichi! You gotta give me a bit of a challenge!" Tyson said cockily, folding his arms across his chest and pointing his nose in the air in a highly irritating fashion. The smug smile on his face rattled Daichi to the point of shaking and clenching his fists angrily. However, a twinkle of realisation sparked in his eyes as he noticed that Tyson was no longer watching the activity within the dish. Smirking he jabbed his finger at him  
"You shouldn't be so complacent Tyson. Go Gaia Dragoon!"

Daichi's blade suddenly roared around the side of the dish using it as a ramp and came crashing down directly on top of Tyson's blade, knocking it off balance. Not missing a trick, Daichi's blade circled around once more and slammed into a wobbling Dragoon, booting it neatly out of the stadium.  
The look on Tyson's face was absolutely priceless as Daichi copied his previous pose.

"You gotta give me a bit of a challenge Tyson!"  
Said loser then leapt, his eyes blazing, across the stadium at the younger Blader, only to be stopped mid-air by Ray who quickly intervened before things got out of hand.  
"Daichi! Stop tormenting Tyson."

However, even Ray, one of the calmest of the group had difficulty maintaining a straight face as Daichi continued to imitate a now furious Tyson.  
"And Tyson, you shouldn't get so cocky. It's your fault you lost. You should always be focussed on the battle even when it appears to be an easy win."  
Tyson visibly relaxed, realising that Ray was right but keeping his gaze fixed on a now still but still smirking Daichi.  
"Ok. Ok.. Let's go again. I'll beat you this time you little monkey boy." Tyson's enthusiasm building, intending to absolutely slaughter the young Blader for his insolence. Ray and Max exchanged a look, the former rolling his eyes resignedly, before turning back to face the oncoming battle.

Kai simply stood there, arms folded, watching but not really seeing what was happening. He was distracted today. For some reason, he could not get that girl out of his head. Something about the whole experience had seemed odd to him. He closed his eyes thinking back to the night before…  
"Kai?"  
He was suddenly brought back to the present, his eyes jerking open to the friendly but curious face of Ray.  
"You ok? You seem a bit… more distant today."  
"I'm fine." Kai replied confidently. "Just bored with Tyson's lack of professionalism as usual."  
Ray peered into the depths of those grey eyes for a moment, sure that his friend was hiding something. However, seeing nothing out of the ordinary he shrugged and went back to the battle, glancing back over his shoulder every now and again at Kai's stoic figure.  
The man in question watched the battle, pushing any thoughts of the girl to the back of his mind. He was soon absorbed in analysing his friends' obvious mistakes as Tyson finally beat Daichi, his screams of elation nearly deafening those around him, before Ray and Max started their own battle.

"It's getting dark guys. I think we should be heading home." Kenny informed the teens, looking up at the gradually darkening sky.  
Max looked up from his heated battle against Daichi, and seeing that the stars were in fact out checked his watch.  
"Yeah. It is past eight o'clock guys."  
"OK. I guess we should be heading home then" agreed Ray.  
The six teens arranged to meet again the following day and parted ways. Max cheerfully waved to the others as he headed off down the river in the opposite direction to Kai. On the way he played back the battles he had just played in his head. Out of the five battles he had played, he'd won 2 but lost three. This didn't worry him as he knew his teammates were accomplished Bladers but he resolved to concentrate harder tomorrow and aim to win more than he lost.

As Max walked, he allowed his mind to relax. He put the battle out of his head, knowing that if he didn't he would never be able to sleep that evening. He looked up at the night sky, taking in the beauty of the stars. He was brought back to the present by a noise ahead of him. He peered through the darkness just about making out a bench near the river bank. It should have been lighter here but there was a streetlight out, leaving a circle of darkness surrounding this area. Max altered his course slightly to make for the bench and the source of the noise. It sounded like soft moaning. As he got nearer he could see a lumpy shape draped across the bench and soon realised that it was a person. Quickening his pace he soon arrived at his destination dropping to his knees in front of the figure. It was a young girl. She was dressed in clothes that were nearly falling off her; dark grey shorts stained and frayed at the edges and a T-shirt bearing some slogan that Max couldn't make out through the filth. Her feet were bare. Her dark hair had fallen across her face and Max gently pushed it to one side to see her face. That was when Max saw the reason the girl was here. On the left-hand side of her forehead was a deepish cut. Blood had seeped down across her face leaving dark lines across an already dirty face. The Liquid had mostly dried although the wound looked pretty angry and red, even in the rapidly fading light.  
"Hey… Can you hear me?"

Max spoke softly, not wanting to startle the girl. She stirred as if she had heard him but her eyes remained closed. He looked up seeing if there was anybody around. The area was deserted. Gently he shook her arm attempting to wake her again. This time her eyelids fluttered.

Maya's head throbbed. She was dimly aware of someone touching her but it was like her body was refusing to respond to her own instruction. She felt another movement on her arm and willed her eyes to open. They twitched and she saw a blurry face in front of her own. Sleepily, she tried to force her eyes to focus but the stress just sent waves of pain racing across her temple. Hot tears leaked down her face as she pulled her arms underneath herself and pushed herself upwards. She could hear someone talking but the words made no sense. She manged to right herself and pushed forwards intending to stand up but the strain was too much and she felt herself falling forwards. Suddenly strong hands grasped her around her middle stopping her descent. She had time to feel both relief and fear of the unknown before the pain took over and she blacked out once more…

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Done. If you liked it then hit that review button! Thanks!  
Mamph


	3. Chapter 3

Ok. Here's chapter 3. I know I've uploaded pretty soon after chapter 2 but as my access to a computer is limited I wanted to get as much done as I could. Hope you like it

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 **The Ties That Bind.**

 **Chapter 3.**

Max stood momentarily stunned. Upon attempting to stand the young girl he'd found had collapsed and instinctively he's reached out to catch her. Her head was now leaning heavily against Max's chest, his arms supporting her body. He looked down at the top of her head and carefully shifted the girl sideways, scooping one arm under her legs in order to lift her bridal style. Now that she was fully supported in his arms he didn't really know what to do next. He looked around but the area was still unhelpfully empty. The young girl appeared completely out of it now so without any other ideas Max continued to walk home. He felt extremely uncomfortable walking along the river with an unconscious girl in his arms and kept looking around him nervously. He was immensely glad when his Dad's shop came into view so that he could get out of view of the public. He was even more glad when it occurred to him that he wouldn't even have to walk via the main road as he could just go through the gate that backed onto the park and in the back door. He reached the gate and with some difficulty lifted the handle, mentally crossing his fingers that it was unlocked. He breathed a sigh of relief when the gate swung open soundlessly. Max quickly crossed the garden and let himself in the back door. The house appeared to be empty. He presumed his Dad had gone out which was fortunate as he didn't fancy explaining his present situation.

Again, Max paused and questioned his own actions. He'd been walking home, found an injured stranger and brought them back to his home. He looked down at the girl and decided he couldn't have done anything else. He couldn't have left her there to fend for herself. There hadn't been anyone there to help her other than himself, and taking her to a hospital had seemed the wrong thing to do without her permission as, given the state of her attire, she appeared to be homeless. Max walked into the living room and gently set the girl down on the sofa, ensuring that there was a cushion under her head. He then headed into the kitchen to grab the first aid kit, a bowl of clean water and towel.

Returning to the living room he switched on the lamp next to the sofa and directed the light towards the girl's head. He knelt on the floor next to her and lightly brushed her hair away from her face. She appeared to be in a deep sleep. Her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling in a soft rhythm. There wasn't much to her beneath the shabby clothes she was wearing. Max wondered how long she'd been on the streets. He looked once more at her face and attempted to work out her age. It was probably around the same as his own; 15-16 years old. The wound on her head looked even more stark against her grubby skin as Max reached into the bowl of water he'd brought him. He carefully dabbed around the wound, cleaning away the dried blood and muck around it. As he touched on the wound itself it began to seep fresh blood and the girl's forehead creased into a frown. Max pulled his hand away quickly as she stirred, waiting nervously. However, her eyes remained closed and she soon settled again. Max resumed cleaning of the wound. He soon found that it wasn't as serious as it looked and ended up cleaning the whole of the girl's face at the same time. Max looked at her, realising that this was the closest he had ever been to a girl, and then feeling a little sad that she was unconscious. He sighed and opened the first aid kit. After holding a few dressings against the wound, he selected one that was the right size and peeled off the backing. He gently pressed the dressing down onto the injury and sat back to admire his handy work. He didn't quite know what to do now. He'd brought home a strange girl and given first aid. He didn't even know her name. Getting to his feet he retrieved a blanket from the back of the sofa and laid it across his patient. As he did so she stirred rolling slightly onto her side and as she did he noticed a necklace fall from under her top. Curious, he ducked down and studied the jewellery. It appeared to be a locket on a silver change. It was quite plain in design, having only the image of a simple circle engraved on it. He moved as if to open it and then thought better of it. It felt like it would be an invasion of privacy. He pulled his hand back and instead moved backwards to sit on the armchair next to the sofa. He would sit and wait for her to awaken, not that he would know what to do at that point, but it felt like the next logical step. Max soon dozed off exhausted by the emotional evening.

Some hours later Maya began to stir. She could feel a weight on top of her and forced her eyes to open sleepily. Peering around she realised that the weight was a blanket and that she was indoors on a sofa. It was strange to wake up on such a comfortable surface. Her head still throbbed painfully and she reached up to touch it. She was surprised to find it covered and looked down to see the now filthy bowl of water on the floor next to the sofa and the towel sitting on its edge. With some reluctance, she heaved herself up into as sitting position, ignoring the wave of pain that coursed through her temple. As she absently rubbed her forehead she suddenly realised that she was not alone. Across from her, in the armchair, sat a young blonde boy. He was fast asleep, his head lolling lazily against the back of the chair, one hand resting on his chest. Maya froze, unsure of how to proceed. This boy had clearly helped her but why? He was a stranger. Most strangers she met gave her a wide berth or teased her. They threw disgusted looks her way or chased her away. This one had brought her to what Maya assumed was his home, treated her wounds and then covered her up while she recovered. She decided that she couldn't deal with the strangeness of this situation and quietly pushed back the blanket putting her feet to the floor, all the while never taking her eyes from the young boy. As she straightened up a surge of dizziness made her wobble and grasp the back of the sofa to steady herself. Maya held her breath as the boy shifted in his sleep. After what seemed like, an eternity he stopped moving and she let go of the sofa. Maya tiptoed out of the room into the kitchen, but as she headed towards the door spotted a bowl of fruit on the side. Her stomach rumbled hungrily remembering the sandwich she had not been allowed to eat, and changed course heading for the bowl. Grabbing a banana and unable to wait until she had left the building hurriedly peeled back the skin and wolfed down the soft fruit. The freshness of the sweet banana tasted unimaginably good. It was the first thing she'd eaten that wasn't somebody else's leftovers in years and it tasted so good. The fruit was soon gone and Maya greedily eyed the rest of the bowl. It took mere seconds for her to decide to grab another piece and was soon chomping down on an apple. It was only as she reached for another banana that she realised she was being watched. Stood in the doorway behind her was Max.

"It's ok. Take as much as you want."

Maya remained frozen to the spot, banana in hand.

"I'm Max. What's your name?"

Still Maya remained rooted and silent. Her gaze flicked to the door that led out of the house and then back to Max. Seeing this, Max attempted to pacify her fears.

"I won't hurt you. I just want to help." He took a step backwards, his hand in front him meaning to make himself less threatening. However, the movement only sparked a reaction from Maya and she darted quickly towards the door, wrenching it open and racing away into the night. Max followed her outside but could not see Maya anywhere. It was now the middle of the night and back here there was no street lamps to light the area. He sighed and headed back inside, comforted by the knowledge that the girl at least now had rested and eaten something, but worried all the same for what might happen now. He sleepily walked over to the staircase and made for his bedroom wondering all the while who the strange girl was and whether their paths would ever cross again…

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Hope you enjoyed. Please leave me some feedback. It's always good to know people are enjoying what I write and whether it's worth continuing. Thanks in advance Mamph


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